Gilad Schalit, an Israeli soldier, had been a hostage for five years before Israel and Hamas were seriously willing to work toward his release. On Friday, Hamas released two of them — an American mother and daughter — but the fate of the others remains unclear. In May 1985, Israel released 1,150 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the return of three Israeli soldiers captured in Lebanon. Over the course of those painful episodes, the nation learned a great deal about how to work for its hostages’ release, whether through third-party negotiations, secret back channels or force. There need to be direct talks between Israel, Qatar and Hamas, and no one else.

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Persons: Gilad Schalit, Ghazi Hamad, Hamas’s, Mr, Hamad, Schalit, Hamad’s, —, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ron Arad, It’s, Sasson Nuriel, Netanyahu, Israel Organizations: Hamas, Gaza, Popular Front, Liberation, Palestine, An Air Force, Islamic, International Committee, United, American Locations: Israeli, Israel, Gaza, Gaza City, American, Maalot, Lebanon, ”, Qatar, United States, Iran